incidents and accidents, hints and allegations

I wasn't going to post about this, but I just watched it again over Chad's shoulder and I couldn't not.

The ObEmbed:

Steeeeeve.

Ahem. Which is to say: I didn't think The Avengers fully conveyed his snark and his willingness to question authority—it seems way too easy for people to forget his breaking into storage to see for himself—so I am super-excited by the dialogue in the opening of this, and what appears to be the general plot of questioning SHIELD, plus of course being extremely competent, because that's what I like about him.

This information was released a while ago, but as the movie opens he's been living in Washington DC, which I have surprisingly strong feelings about, which amount to: hell no. Okay, fine, he can't be living in Avengers Tower for this plot to work, but DC?! Where even the fashion pages of the newspaper are about political horserace nonsense? Steve would hate it.

I have decided that he's living there temporarily to do grad work at Georgetown or the Naval Academy and will be going home to Brooklyn at the end of the movie. With Bucky, naturally.

Natasha! Still not reconciled to the hair, but being badass and friends with Steve! And eventually going on the run in civilian clothing and kissing on escalators, too; I know Sharon Carter is in this, but even if I don't get Steve/Natasha I am really hoping that there will be no Steve/Sharon, because the whole concept is ick (perhaps the Agent Carter short, keeping Peggy fresh in the audience's minds, is a signal that they're not going to go there?).

I was amused to see the Helicarrier crashing, because I remembered this comment from when Avengers was released that, given the number of downed helicarriers in comics canon, "it would have been cheaper in the long run for SHIELD to drown the enemies of freedom in pure molten gold." Guess they were saving it for this movie!

I feel fairly sure that Fury isn't going to die after the Winter Soldier blows up his car (it's him in the hospital, because in HD you can see that there's too much facial hair to be Sam), because Jackson has a nine-picture deal, but they can't introduce Sam just to kill him off, right? Ugh, but then I'm thinking they'll fridge Sharon, and ugh. Hospitalizations but no tragic deaths, please.

Uh. What else? I am prepared to like Sam, because I know he's a significant friendship for Steve in the comics, and because he's not another white dude, but there's not much for me to go on in this. The Winter Soldier's robot arm is awfully shiny; at smaller video sizes it looks cheap. And speaking of aesthetics, I am very appreciative of Steve's new haircut, the new Commander Rogers uniform (I wasn't a fan of the Avengers uniform), and the flashbacks to the WWII uniform (possibly still my favorite).

Finally, today when I was leaving work I saw someone with a very nice spare-tire cover that looked like Steve's shield. If I hadn't been driving I would have waved my keychain at them in solidarity.